Boeing, 29% drop in deliveries: 737 MAX crash and slowed production
After the 737 MAX crash and the discovery of incorrect holes in the windows, deliveries stop at 27 aircraft
by Mara Monti
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Key points
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Deliveries and production of the 737 Max aircraft slowed down after the accident on 5 January when a door of an Alaska Airlines aircraft burst during take-off. The first effect is on deliveries, which stopped at 27 aircraft in January, a sharp drop of 29% compared to the same month last year due to the slowdown imposed by the American authority, the FAA, which stopped more than 140 737 Max 9 aircraft of Alaska Airlines and United for a few weeks and forced Boeing not to increase production.
Delivery slowdown of 737 MAX
.The change of pace was immediate and deliveries of the 737 MAX were limited to only 25 aircraft - after more than 40 had been delivered in the last two months - while cancellations after the accident were limited to two 737 Max and one 787 Dreamliner by the Spanish carrier Air Europe.
New programming for production
.The aim is to slow down production during the first part of the year to a rate of less than the 38 planes per month that had been set at the end of last year, and then gradually rise again in the following months. A new schedule that responds to the demands for more controls on product quality and the production chain demanded by the US aviation regulators. This was explained by CFO Brian West at a conference: 'We must be careful not to get ahead of ourselves,' adding that production rates in the factories will be regulated by the US authorities in the coming months.
In addition to the 737 MAX, Boeing delivered a 787 Dreamliner and a 767 widebody during the month. The order backlog decreased from 5,626 to 5,599 aircraft as of 31 January, bringing outstanding orders to 6,189. Only three orders, the lowest number since 2019. During the same period, Boeing's European rival Airbus delivered 30 aircraft, recording 31 new orders.
Problems with suppliers
.While the investigation into the dynamics of the accident is still ongoing, a new problem has emerged in recent weeks: one of Boeing's main suppliers, Spirit Aerosystems, has discovered that it had mistakenly drilled holes in the window frames of some 737s, a circumstance that could further slow down the delivery of around 50 aircraft.
